


switch it up

by assclassination (celexte)



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: F/M, here we go!!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 01:15:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9633566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celexte/pseuds/assclassination
Summary: “So how’re things going with Nagisa-kun?”“What about with Manami-chan?”





	

**Author's Note:**

> rio and karma are friends helpin each other out.
> 
> i love karumana if i didn't mention that yet----

“So how’re things going with Nagisa-kun?” Karma asks cheekily, sliding his arm onto her desk and leaning on it.

It’s lunchtime, and since it’s raining hard, Class 3-E is stuck inside for the day. It’s alright, though Korosensei’s sulking in the corner because he wanted to go to Beijing for lunch and can’t. (Rio watched Nagisa open his notepad and underline Korosensei’s weakness to water and grinned.)

So, presently, Rio jumps in her seat, knocking a book off her desk. Irritably, she goes to pick it up, and elbows Karma’s face while looking around to see if anyone had heard, God forbid Korosensei. No one seems to have noticed, thankfully.

“Go away, _Akabane-san_ ,” she growls.

Karma looks a little hurt, massaging his cheek, and drags a chair up to Rio’s desk. “ _Nakamura-san_ , you know I only have the best of intentions. Seriously,” he sighs, and then lowers his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Has he asked you out yet?”

He waits patiently as she flips through her book (pages a little crumpled now, thanks Karma) and finally says, “No,” her voice indifferent.

“You want him to?”

“No.”

“Aw, really,” Karma exclaims, “Rio, I thought you really liked Na-”

“Shut up, Karma,” Rio almost yells, chucking the book at him. It hits Karma square in the face.

 

(Nagisa runs to pick up the book for Rio, handing it back with an apologetic smile. Rio nods dumbly as she takes the book from his hand, and although Karma is sporting a faint redness from the book’s impact, he grins.)

 

“Okay, what about Manami-chan,” Rio relents.

She opens up her black umbrella and watches the droplets drip off the ends. Karma decides to open a textbook and put it over his head, which Rio frowns at, but he’s not looking at her.

He hums, “Good, I suppose.”

Karma’s aloofness annoys her a bit, so she presses, “Have _you_ asked her out?”

He furrows his brow contemplatively. “I tried. But she’s really… dense.” Gesturing with his other hand to emphasize, he continues, “I basically said that we should, uh, hang out and she was just like ‘aren’t we hanging out right now?’ Which we were, but it was in the chemistry lab, and that’s not. What I wanted.” Karma eyes Rio now, who’s almost choking on her laughter. Karma irritably waits until she calms down.

“Oh my god, I love Manami-chan so much,” Rio laughs wistfully. “The only person I know who can make Karma Akabane-san so _flustered_. You should see your face right now. You’re lucky I’m not gonna take photos.”

Karma grits his teeth, regretting ever trying to tell Rio anything at this point. “I’m leaving,” he tells her, and walks a little faster.

 

(Rio grins at him for a little, wiping a tear from her eye, and then cups a hand around her mouth, yelling, “Keep trying, Karma-kun. She’ll come around eventually.”

There’s hesitation in Karma’s step. He turns around, his expression undefinable. Raindrops trail down his face, his hair soaked despite the textbook umbrella on his head. Karma gives her a thumbs-up before continuing down the road.)

 

“So tell me why you like Nagisa-kun, anyway,” Karma prompts, taking a last sip from his strawberry milk carton. Rio nurses her ice cream cone, deciding whether to scowl, throw the cone at him, or simply… answer.

She hasn’t really thought about it herself, so she might as well.

It’s a sunny day today, not too warm. It’s peaceful. Rio inhales, says, “Nagisa-kun… he’s a peaceful guy, right? Calm. Collected. I don’t know how he does it. Sometimes it’s stressful… sometimes I wish all this never happened. But I think he’s doing just fine. Like he’d say, ‘don’t worry, Rio-chan, we’ll get through this just fine.’ I believe him. Like… no matter the circumstances, no matter how bad things might be, I can rely on him for always being Nagisa-kun. He’s steady, unchanging, strong but still gentle. And he pulls off a smile, no matter what… and I guess I admire that.” Rio backtracks, thinking, _Damn, I got a little emotional there._ So she adds, “Also, I like his face.”

Karma solemnly nods, and Rio can’t remember the last time she saw him so serious. “You’re right. He is just like that.” As Rio drifts off into thought, Karma suddenly interjects, “So if I grew out my hair and dyed it blue, would you also like me?” His devilish smile is back, unfortunately, and _now_ Rio wants to shove her ice cream into his face.

“No, you’d just look terrible. Besides, I’d never compliment you willingly.” She bites her ice cream, irritated. “Sometimes I don’t know how Manami-chan puts up with you.”

“Yeah, I don’t know either,” Karma chuckles, slouching on the bench, contemplative again. “Okuda-san is really hardworking, y’know. I was walking by the classroom once and found her asleep on her desk. I asked her what she was doing, and she said, ‘finding a way to kill Korosensei,’ in a sleepy voice, and even so, she seemed so determined. Someone like her, with such intent to kill… kinda scary, right?” He laughs. “She’s so incredibly honest. You wanna know what she said once?” Rio nods. “‘I’m not scared of you, Akabane-san,’ she said, ‘in fact, I quite like you. I hope we can be friends for a long time.’” He looks down at his hands, then looks at Rio, his smile content. “Also, I like her face.”

Rio finishes her cone with a crunch, brushes her hands off on her skirt. “Take care of her,” she tells him, “I trust you.”

He stands almost lazily, feeling a little self-conscious. “...Yeah, you too. Nagisa-kun does need some extra support. You got it, Rio.”

 

(“Thanks though,” Karma says. “I’m going to try tomorrow, so you do it too.”

Rio hesitates, but holds out her hand. “Okay.”

They shake on it.)

 

“Nagisa-kun,” Rio calls out, breathless. The time is twenty minutes before homeroom would start, and she knows that Nagisa always comes in early. She’d run all the way up the hill and to the classroom in hopes of finding him, and, here he is.

The blue haired boy turns around to face her, blinking, his hand faltered before the door to Class 3-E. “Oh, Rio-chan. Good morning.” He smiles, and she melts. Damn his angelic face and bright eyes! But she keeps her composure. By this, she means that she doesn’t turn into a stuttering mess. Not really, anyway.

“O-Oh yeah, it’s pretty nice outside. Um, class didn’t start yet, so wanna sit out in the back?” she says all in a rush. Somehow, Nagisa understands.

Maybe he always understood.

Rio musters up the courage to grab Nagisa’s hand, and he looks a little shocked at first, but his fingers curve around hers, and she can’t stop the warm feeling dancing in her chest. They half-run down the hallway, not all that graceful, but Nagisa laughs, so Rio does, too.

Through the doors. Rio calms, sitting down on the empty wooden steps (letting go of his hand, albeit regretfully,) and Nagisa taking a seat beside her. “This is nice,” Nagisa says. The sun kisses the horizon, the clouds are shaded with gold. “I didn’t know it was so pretty out here in the morning.”

Rio is still out of breath, from the almost-running or her insatiable heartbeat. Probably the latter. “...Thanks for keeping me company.”

“Anything for you,” he smiles, blue eyes reflecting sky light, and Rio’s face reddens. She wonders idly if he knows what he’s doing to her.

(Probably. But he’s nice enough to not say anything about it.)

“ _Nagisa-kun,”_ Rio says, a little more urgently, “thanks for keeping me company.”

_Please understand._

Her blue eyes burn unwaveringly into his, but his touch on her hand is soft and cool.

The bell rings, and it feels like no time has passed at all.

 

(“Hey, Nagisa-kun, hey, Rio-chan,” Karma sing-songs as he walks into class. He eyes Rio, who looks at him with a smile. The redhead slides a hand across her desk and mouths, _Congratulations._ )

 

Karma finds Manami sitting in the front of the classrooms, where the grass grows ankle-high, bright, and green. It’s nearing the end of the day, so Manami’s usually tidy braids have become a bit messy. Endearingly so.

“Good afternoon, Okuda-san.”

Manami looks up. “Hello, Akabane-san.”

Karma looks down at her notebook, puzzled. “Oh? What’s this? It’s not chemistry,” he says. On the paper is a drawing (media used: regular binder paper and crayons) of a grassy field, a blue sky, and two kids in the center.

One has red hair and the other has violet.

“Oh, I was drawing a class picture,” she smiles fondly at her paper. Karma takes a seat next to her on the step. “So far, I drew you and me. How is it? I didn’t have a gold colored crayon for your eyes, so I used orange instead. I hope that’s okay.”

Karma’s still staring at the paper, a strange fluttery feeling in his chest. “...It’s really nice. Cute.”

“Not as good as Sugaya-san, I’m sure, but I really wanted to capture the happiness this classroom gives me,” Manami sighs.

Above the crayon-Karma’s head, Manami wrote “Karma,” in bubbly handwriting, and “Manami” above crayon-Manami. His face heats up, and he points at the words. “Do I make you the most happy?”

“Huh?” Her eyes are beautiful, really, up close. Soft and lavender, her eyes really are a window to her soul. She averts her eyes self-consciously, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “...It’s a hard question, Akabane-san. But…” She musters up the courage to make eye contact with him again. “Yes. I think so. You’ve made it worth coming to school every day, you know. That makes me happy.”

“I’m glad…” He swallows. “...Manami-chan.”

“Wha-” She flushes, cutely so, her shoulders stiffening with embarrassment, and all Karma wants is to pull her closer.

“Is that okay?” he asks anxiously.

“...Karma-kun?” she tries, and his heart _explodes_ , “Karma-kun,” she laughs, satisfied. “Yes. Let’s do that. It’s nice, isn’t it? Feels like turning over a new leaf.” Resting her cheek on a hand, she looks at Karma with a sunny expression. “I’ve got to thank you, Karma-kun. You’ve taught me a lot this year.”

Karma blinks. Red-haired, orange-eyed crayon-Karma smiles on the page - not devilish as many a classmate has described him, but genuine, boyish. The way she conveys him on the page - it’s innocent, soft. It’s Manami, after all, and he offers her a grin. “I’d like to thank you too, Manami-chan.”

A wave of wind pushes the hair from his eyes, musses her braids even more, and he reaches out to slowly push her bangs to the side as he continues, “I think this year would have been difficult without you beside me.”

 

(“The drawing…” Manami murmurs shyly.

“What about it?”

“Keep it,” she says quickly, holding the paper out to him. “I’ll, um, draw something else for the class photo.”

She pulls her bag over her shoulder and waves goodbye a little down the road. “Good night, Karma-kun. See you tomorrow.” This is all the reassurance he needs.

After she’s gone, he leans his head back and smiles stupidly at the sky.)

 

Rio’s phone buzzes. Checking it, up comes a picture of the red-headed devil. “What’s up, Akabane,” she answers, holding the phone to her shoulder as she continues her worksheet for English class.

“Yo,” he says cheerfully. “Wanna hang out on Saturday?”

“Uh, no…” Rio says slowly, putting the phone on speaker as she stops to flip through her notebook. “...I’m actually going somewhere with, um, Nagisa-kun... that day.” Her words fall a little quieter at the end, and Karma bursts into ecstatic laughter.

“Nagisa-kun? Oh, I see. I’m sorry to interrupt,” he chuckles. “All right. Tell me how it goes. Where are you guys going?”

“...Ice cream,” she mutters, finger hovering above the “end call” button.

“Ooh, how sweet. Something Nagisa would do. Say, you think it’d be a good idea to ask Manami-chan if she wants to go for ice cream too? Double-date.”

“Manami-chan?” Rio echoes excitedly. “How cute, young love~” she sighs happily. “Yes, bring her along. If you have the guts to ask her, that is.”

Karma sounds indignant. “Excuse you, I’ll have you know that I’m Karma Akabane, and I’m pretty much flawless.” A pause. “So if she says yes, what should I wear?”

Rio snorts. “I’ll come over early on Saturday and help pick out something.”

“...Thank you. Night,” he says.

“Goodnight, Karma.”


End file.
